Game apparatus.



K0 MODEL.

PATENTED DEC. 22, 1903.

W. S. HOW.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4. 1903.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

o. 747,716. EATENTED DEC. 22, 1903..

" w. s. HOW.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED HA3. 4, 1903.

R0 MODEL. 7 SHEBTS-SHBBT A a Haj. I

No. 747,716. w PATEAITED DEC. 22, 1903. W. s. HOW. A

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 4' 1903.

K0 MODEL. I 7 SHEETS-SHEET .3.

33 1 76.4: I 17 l E z F B g 173 A Q5 .HL

s B5 Fl No. 747,716. A PATENTED DEC. 22, 1903.

W.'s. HOW.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAE. 4:;1903.

N0 MODEL. 7 SHEETSSHEET 4.

' FIG 5.

No. 747,716. PATENTED DEC. 22, 1903.

W. s. HOW.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 4. 1903. :10 110mm, 1 sngms-snnm '5.

No. 747,716. v v PATENTED D30. 22, 1903.

w. s. How. GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 4, 1903.

N0 MODEL. v 7 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

.No. 747,716. PATENTED DEG. 22, 1903.

W. 's. HOW. GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 11113.4. 1903- N0 MODEL. 1 7 SHEETSSHEET 7.

UNITED STATES f Patented December 22, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

QGAM EJAPPARATUS. I

srncxmcar zolv forming p t o Letters Patent No. 747.716, dated December 22,1903.

Application filed March 4, 1903..

To all whom it may 'c o rtoern:

Be it known that I, Woonsiinv STORER HOW, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadel phia,Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain Improvements in Game Apparatus, of which the following is a. specification.

My invention relates to game apparatus of a class akin to billiards, but adapted for either home, hall, street, orvfield use and providing simple, cheap, safe, and convenient appliances for playing the games. 1

Aside from the wide range of playing-surface permitted my inve'ntion is distinguished 'from other apparatus of the class with which [5 I am familiar in-that it contemplates the use of light aud'resilient balls in connection with dead-walled rails or other bodies which op- .pose-the movement of said balls or ,inclose the playing-field and which retain in most cases their position by reason-of theirpreponderance of weight and without the necesistics are quite resilient.

sity of otherwise securing them in position. The invention also comprises details in the construction and combination .of these deadwalled rails or other resistingbodies.

' Preliminary to a detailed description with reference to the annexed drawings it may be pertinent to. observe that modern invention .has produced for hand-*to-hand or racket play hollow balls which are thin and very light and which because of these character- These balls-because of such resiliency and levity are by the specially designated by theoriginal term hols.

"material which will preservethe form of the bol and prevent deformationof the same under the force of impact against the walls ofthe bolyard or against another bol or object.

In-theaccompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan-view of a bolyard constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig.- 2 is aperspective view of one of the wall-sections of the same, Figs. 3, 4, -5, and-"6 are similar views.

views illu'stratin g other forms of bolyard emf- Serial m. 146,120. (No model.)

bodying my invention, and Figs. 7 to 20 are views illustrating various features of con struction of the different forms of bolyard.

.In the drawings like letters of reference inicate similar parts-or features in all of the l The playing-surface, whether level or in clined,..as a pavement, field, floor, table, or board, is represented by the letter Y, which will also-indicate such surface whether covered with paper, cloth, rubber, or other material. 'fl

In Figs. 1' and 2, A represents'a strip of metal or other suitable material having angularly-bent ends B B and downwardly-projecting legs or feet a, which rest upon the playing-surface." This strip is of such bulk and weight inrespect to the weight of the bol E that the forcible projection of the latter against the strip or against either of the wings of the same will lie so resisted by the preponderance of the strip and by its frictional hold upon the playing-surface that any displacement or distortion of said strip will be effectually prevented. The strip thusconstitutes a dead-walled resist-ingb'ody, and consequentlyhthereaction is dueto the elasticity =o r resilience of the bol or projectile and not 'to' any elasticity in the resisting-body; To

further increase thefrictional resistance to such displacement, soft-rubbercushions or pads a,-may befprovid-edon the under .sides of the supporting legs or'feet a. In Fig.1 are shown .four of these winged strips A, disposed to form the walls ofwhat I-term the bolyard, The wings B of the strips A are at such an angle to said stripsthat when the latter are disposed so as to form the four sides of'a quadrangle, as shown in Fig. 1, ports or alleys D with converging walls will be formed at each corner of said quad rangle, which ports may admit theprojected bol, but because of the converging wing-walls will prevent its exit and will retain it on the playing-surface Y in place for return play. The various wallsections A may be so disposed as'to permit or prevent the entrance of the bol into the ports, so that in the latter case "a closed or carom bolyard will be formed, both of the described dispositionsiof the wall-sections be-' ing illustrated i'nFig. 1. I v v -.Billiard gamesof the carom, carom and pocket, or pool pocket kinds are all well known and their rules are familiarto the players. In my closed or ported bolyard similar games may be played under like rules.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a bolyard consisting of dead-wall'rail-sections A, round in crosssection and provided at each end with a lateral extension a to which is pivoted at b'a segmental wing B, one wall of which terminates in a projecting lug b. Astop-piu (1. passes through the outer end of the lateral extension a and engages any one of a series of openings 12 formed in the wings B in order to efiect the relative wing adjustments to vary the character of the ports, so as to form either a closed or ported bolyard, and the same construction can be adopted for the formation of ports in the middle of each railsection orat other locations thereon, as shown, for instance, in Fig. 7. The projecting lugs b at the outer ends of the segments Bserve, in addition to the converging walls of the ports. to prevent the escape of the bol therefrom, or when the segments B are adjusted so as to form ports with parallel side walls these projecting lugs b may serve as the sole means for preventing the escape of the bol from the port. When the swinging Wings B are used, the rails Amay be brought together to form a closed bolyard, the wings B in this case swinging beyond the position assumed by them when a ported bolyard is formed.

In Fig. 8 is shown a modified structure in which the round rail-section A is provided at the ends with sheet-metal wings B which have angular extensions b slotted, as at b", so as to provide for vertical adjustment of the rail-sections A, said sections being secured in position after adjustment by means of suitable flanged thumb-screws b These wings B are also provided with sockets b to receive the ends of a clip-coupler, such as shown at F in Fig. 9, when a closed bolyard is to be formed, or an arched coupler F, such as shown in Fig. 8, when an open-ported bolyard is desired. 7

In Fig 4 I have illustrated an open-ported bolyard formed of thin flat rail-sections A composed of wood or othersuitable material and presenting dead-walls to theimpact of the bol, these rail-sections A having beveled ends secured to wings B thick enough to provide proper support for therail-sections and deep enough to sustain said rail-sections at a proper height above the playing-surface Y. The wings B are provided with sockets b to receive either a clipcoupler F or an arch-coupler F, according as it is desired to produce either a closed or carom bolyard or an open-ported bolyard. With this construction of rail-section, having wings adjustable to positions parallel with each other, a bolyard completely closed at each corner may be readily produced. v

In Fig. 10 I have shown dead-wall tubular rail-sections'A, t'elescoped upon bentrod wings B, which by means of the shouldered ends of the rails-A as shown, a certain amount of resiliency is imparted thereto,

' which causes them to bind snugly upon the bent-rod Wings 3. V

Fig. 11 illustrates a dead-wall tubular railsection A, telescoped on an elbow-block H, which receives a vertical screw-prop a thus providing for a dead-wall carom bolyard, which may be readily assembled or disassembled at will.

In the construction shown in Fig. 12 dead- {wing-loop B downwardly bent at its outer portion, so as to form abow a, which serves as a prop to maintain the level of the impactwalls of the rail-sections A, thumb-screws bi -servin g to secure the socketed ends of said rail-seetions'A to the bent ends of the loop B ,1 Fig. 13 I have illustrated the how a. of

he loop B as provided with a threaded lug a to receive a screw-prop a the head of this prop having a short section of-rubber tube a secured to it in order to provide additionalsurface friction and also to prevent the marring of a polished surface upon which the bolyard may be set up.

In the upper end of one of In Fig. 5 I have illustrated an open-ported bolyard, having port-forming loops B at each corner, which loops are formed in one piece with the dead-wall elevated rails A In Fig. 14 are shown dead wall square rail sections A", formed with integral wings B which are seated in the slotsin the top of the duplex prop a the latter having pivoted turnbuckles b to retain the ends of the wings in place thereon and a central recess a in order to PBIIIIILIIIB cueto strike a bol located in the port between the wings B In Fig. 15 the dead-wall sections A aresimilar to those shown inFig. 4; but they are used in a reverse p0sition-that is to say,

with their'beveled .ends facing outwardly,

these walls meeting at the corners, so as to and when it-is desired to securethe rails tog gether at the corners the same may be slotted, C as shownat d and 01, Figs. 17 and 18, for the reception of an arched coupling-bar F, said bar being adapted to the slots 01,, as shown in Fig. 17, when it is desired to produce a closed upon lugs or props and vertically adjustablebolyard and to the slots (1, as shown in Fig. 18, when it is desired to produce a ported bolyard.-

- Fig. 6 shows a bolyard consisting of four segmental strips A of sheet metal or other mate-rial, of proper dimensions, disposed so as to form a ported bolyard, and it will be evident that by placing these strips closely together, so as to bring them into contact at the corners, a closed or carom bolyard may be formed. These strips may be supported the form of a ring or cup of elastic or inelastic material, if desired, and mounted so as to be either easy or difficult of displacement. In Fig. 6 I have illustrated in place of this sliding block a ring I, composed of sheet metal or other material bent into proper form and centrally located in the bolyard, this ring serving to deflect a bol striking the same at any angle of'impact. By separating the'ends v if desired, a plurality of the devices I, I,- or

1 maybe employed.

The various forms of bolyard which I have illustrated indicate some of the embodiments of myinvention which I have reduced to practice; but I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the particular illustrations shown, as it will be manifest that many other forms of bolyard, Within the scope of my in,- vention can be readily produced by those skilled in the art. games a completely-inclosed bolyard may not be necessary, *in which case only one, two, or more of the rail-sections may be employed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Game apparatus comprising a light, hol-. low, and resilient-surface projectile and a dead-walled body or boundary superposed upon the playing-surface, substantially as specified. 1

2. Game apparatus comprising a light, hollow, and resilien'tfsurface projectile and a dead-walled body or boundary forminga ported inclosu're superposed uponthe playing- .surface, substantially as specified.

3. Game apparatus comprising a light, hol-' low and re'silientsurface projectile, and a metallic body or bonndary superposed upon In the playing of some the playingsurface and opposing a deadwalled resistance to said projectile, substantially as specified. t v

4. Game apparatus comprising a light, hollow, and resilient-surface projectile, and a dead-walled resisting vbody or boundary superposed upon and elevatedabove the play-- ing surface, substantially as specified.

5. Game apparatus comprising a light, hollow,- andresilient-surface proje'ctile,.and a dead-walled resisting body or boundary superposed upon and adjustably supportedabove the playing-surface, substantially as specified. 4

6. Game apparatus comprising a light, hol

low and resilient-surface projectile, and a dead-walled resistingv body or boundary superposed upon the playing-surface, and having its portions in contact with said playingsurface constructed to increase its frictional hold' thereupon, substantially as specified.

7. Game apparatus comprising a light, holrality of dead-walled resisting" bodies superposed upon the playingwsurface and sodis- .posedas to form a ported inclosure, wi th means for varying the size of said ports and for positively securing the parts in their differen positions, substantially as specified. 9. Game'apparatus comprising a light, hollow and resilient-surface projectile, and-a plu- J rality of resisting bodies superposed upon the playing-surface in combination with means for positively retaining said resisting bodies in position to form eithera closed or ported inclosure, substantially as specified.

10. Game apparatus com pris'ingali'ght, hole low andresilient-surface projectile, and a plurality' of dead-walled resisting bodies superposed upon the playing-snrface and disposed thereon. so as to form an inclosure-for the projectile,.an'd one or more dead-walled resisting bodies for the projectile disposed within said inclosur'e, substantially as specified.

11. Game apparatus-comprisingalight, hollow and resilient-surface projectile,and a plurality of dead-walled resisting-bodies superposed npon the playing-surface an forming 'low,-hard-surfaced and resilient-surface pro- I to an inelosure for said projectile, an an openported and dead-walled inclosure within said -main inclosure, substantially as specified.'

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WOODBURY STORER 'HOW.

Witnesses: g t

' F. E. BEcHToLD,

J os. H. KLEIN.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No; {747,716, granted December 22, 1903, upon the application of Woodbury Storer How, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for an improvement in Game Apparatus, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction, as follows: On page 3, in lines 52, 57, 62, 68, 73, 79, 86, 91, 99, 106, and 114:,

the hyphen between the words resilient and surface should be stricken out; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oifice.

Signed and sealed this 23d day of February, A. D., 1904.

[SEAL] F. I. ALLEN,

Commissioner of Patents. 

